Enzyme extraction by ultrasound from sludge flocs

Enzymes play essential roles in the biological processes of sludge treatment. In this article, the ultrasound method to extract enzymes from sludge flocs was presented. Results showed that using ultrasound method at 20 kHz could extract more types of enzymes than that ultrasound at 40 kHz and ethylenediamine tetraacetic acid (EDTA) methods. The optimum parameters of ultrasound extraction at 20 kHz were duration of 10 min and power of 480 W. Under the condition, ultrasound could break the cells and extract both the extracellular and intercellular enzymes. Ultrasound power was apparently more susceptive to enzyme extraction than duration, suggesting that the control of power during ultrasound extraction was more important than that of duration. The Pearson correlation analysis between enzyme activities and cation contents revealed that the different types of enzymes had distinct cation binding characteristics.     

Isolation and characteristics of a novel biphenyl-degrading bacterial strain, Dyella ginsengisoli LA-4

A novel biphenyl-degrading bacterial strain LA-4 was isolated from activated sludge. It was identified as Dyella ginsengisoli according to phylogenetic similarity of 16S rRNA gene sequence. This isolate could utilize biphenyl as sole source of carbon and energy, which degraded over 95 mg/L biphenyl within 36 h. The major metabolites formed from biphenyl, such as 2-hydroxy-6-oxo-6-phenylhexa-2,4-dienoic acid (HOPDA) and benzoic acid, were identified by LC-MS. The crude cell extract of strain LA-4 exhibited the activity of 2,3-dihydroxybiphenyl 1,2-dioxygenase (2,3-DHBD) and the kinetic parameters were Km= 26.48 μmol/L and Vmax= 8.12 μmol/mg protein. A conserved region of the biphenyl dioxygenase gene bphA1 of strain LA-4 was amplified by PCR and confirmed by DNA sequencing.     

Physiological responses and detoxific mechanisms to Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd in young seedlings of Paulownia fortunei

Paulownia fortunei has been successfully used in the phytoremediation of many Pb/Zn mine tailings. However, seed germination and young seedlings of P. fortunei rarely occurred in these mine tailings. The physiological responses and detoxific mechanisms of P. fortunei young seedling to Pb, Zn, Cu and Cd stress were investigated. The germinated rate, shoot length, chlorophyll and carotenoid contents in leaves of young seedlings had a great reduction under Zn and Cu treatments, but had little decrease under Pb and Cd treatments. The production rate of O₂^•−, H₂O₂ and malondialdehyde (MDA) contents significantly increased in response to added Zn and Cu indicating great oxidative stress for young seedlings, but they had no significant change to added Pb and Cd. Young seedlings had effective detoxific mechanism to Pb and Cd, as antioxidant enzymes activities, phytochelatins (PCs-SH) and proline contents increased with increasing rates of added Pb and Cd. However, young seedlings had un-effective detoxific mechanisms to Zn and Cu stress. Results revealed the heavy metals (such as Cu) that present at low concentrations in mine tailings may be major constraint for the survival of young seedlings.     

Thermal stabilization of chromium slag by sewage sludge: Effects of sludge quantity and temperature

To investigate the feasibility of detoxifying chromium slag by sewage sludge,synthetic chromium slag containing 3% of Cr(VI) was mixed with sewage sludge followed by thermal treatment in nitrogen gas for stabilizing chromium.The effects of slag to sludge ratio(0.5,1 and 2) and temperature(200,300,500,700 and 900°C) on treatment efficiency were investigated.During the mixing process before thermal treatment,59.8%-99.7% of Cr(VI) was reduced,but Cr could be easily leached from the reduction product.Increasing heating temperature and decreasing slag to sludge ratio strengthened the reduction and stabilization of Cr(VI).When the slag to sludge ratio was 0.5 and thermal treatment temperature was 300°C,the total leached Cr and Cr(VI) declined to 0.55 mg/L and 0.17 mg/L respectively,and 45.5% of Cr in the thermally treated residue existed as residual fraction.A two-stage mechanism was proposed for the reduction and stabilization of Cr.     

Carbonaceous particles in the atmosphere and precipitation of the Nam Co region, central Tibet

A continuous air and precipitation sampling for carbonaceous particles was conducted in a field observatory beside Nam Co, Central Tibetan Plateau during July of 2006 through January of 2007. Organic carbon (OC) was the dominant composition of the carbonaceous particles both in the atmosphere (1660 ng/m³) and precipitation (476 ng/g) in this area, while the average elemental carbon (BC) concentrations in the atmosphere and precipitation were only 82 ng/m³ and 8 ng/g, respectively. Very high OC/BC ratio suggested local secondary organic carbon could be a dominant contribution to OC over the Nam Co region, while BC could be mainly originated from Southern Asia, as indicated by trajectory analysis and aerosol optical depth. Comparison between the BC concentrations measured in Lhasa, those at “Nepal Climate Observatory at Pyramid (NCO-P)” site on the southern slope of the Himalayas, and Nam Co suggested BC in the Nam Co region reflected a background with weak anthropogenic disturbances and the emissions from Lhasa might have little impact on the atmospheric environment here, while the pollutants from the Indo-Gangetic Basin of Southern Asia could be transported to the Nam Co region by both the summer monsoon and the westerly.     

商陆和烟草对锰胁迫的抗氧化响应研究

研究植物的重金属累积能力对于植物修复和植物冶金意义重大.Mn超累积植物商陆(Phytolacca americana L.)的耐性/累积机制至今还不清楚,为了研究商陆在Mn胁迫下的抗氧化酶作用,将萌发6周的商陆和烟草幼苗分别放入1 mmol·L~(-1)或3 mmol·L~(-1)的1/2 Hoagland营养液处理4 d,实验表明商陆叶片光合速率降低幅度显著低于烟草,而烟草MDA含量和电解质渗漏量增加幅度大于商陆.如1 mmol·L~(-1) Mn处理4 d后,与对照相比,商陆和烟草的光合速率分别降低13.3%和75.5%;烟草MDA含量和电解质渗漏量分别增加347.3%和120.1%,而商陆的MDA含量和电解质渗漏量没有明显增加,表明Mn胁迫对超累积植物引起的氧化损伤明显低于非累积植物.随着Mn处理浓度的提高和时间的延长,2种植物叶片SOD和POD活性均迅速增加,其中商陆SOD活性的增加幅度大于烟草;另外,商陆CAT活性持续上升,而烟草CAT活性显著下降.如在1 mmol·L~(-1) Mn处理下,商陆SOD、POD和CAT活性分别提高161.1%、 111.3%和17.5%;烟草SOD和POD提高55.5%和206.0%,而CAT下降15.6%,表明商陆的抗氧化酶,特别是CAT,能够有效地清除Mn毒产生的自由基.这些结果说明抗氧化酶的抗氧化能力是重金属累积植物商陆的Mn耐性机制之一.     

嗜热菌株AT07-1的分离鉴定及其在污泥溶解预处理厌氧发酵产氢中的应用

从湖南大学花园土壤中采集样品,用稀释涂布法分离和纯化适于污泥溶解的典型嗜热菌菌株,从中选出一株高效菌进行形态观察,并对其进行生理生化鉴定.结果表明,该菌株的革兰氏染色为阳性,呈细杆状,产芽孢,为好氧或兼性需氧细菌,最适生长温度为65℃,最适生长pH值为6.8~7.5.通过16SrDNA碱基测序和对比证实,该菌株是目前尚未报道过的一株嗜热菌,GenBank中注册命名为Bacillus thermophilic bacteria AT071(注册号:FJ231108).同时,将其纯种菌用于嗜热酶溶解（solubilization by thermophilic enzyme,S-TE）污泥稳定化处理,接种该嗜热菌可促进污泥中悬浮固体的溶解,2.5d时接种试验挥发性悬浮固体 (volatile suspended solid,VSS)溶解率达到59.41%,比不接种试验同期提高了25.58%,达到了EPA规定的污泥稳定化要求.进一步对经AT071预处理的污泥厌氧产氢效果进行研究,试验结果显示,接种处理后污泥发酵产氢效果良好,高出未接种处理（65℃热处理）污泥26.4%,发酵气体中只含有H2和CO2.     

胞外酶对堆肥中微生物群落演替的影响

研究了添加黄孢原毛平革菌胞外酶对农业废物堆肥中木质纤维素降解及微生物群落演替的影响.结果表明,堆肥初期,胞外酶对微生物生长具有抑制作用,且随堆肥时间的延长逐渐减弱;堆肥后期,胞外酶可提高微生物群落的多样性和均匀性,并促进木质素和半纤维素的大量降解.醌指纹数据显示,胞外酶并未引起新的优势醌的出现,进入高温期后,以MK-7为主要醌类的微生物作为优势菌群,且这种优势一直存在;堆肥后期胞外酶对甲基萘醌影响较大,可促进长链甲基萘醌的出现.主成分分析表明,胞外酶对醌种类演替的影响主要作用在3d和40d,这与非相似性指数结果一致,并使真菌在整个体系中影响力加大.     

Evaluation of ecological restoration success in mining‐degraded lands

This review article analyzes the importance of assessing the success of ecological restoration by using four indicators: assemblage of the plant and animal communities; enzyme activity; litter accumulation and decomposition; and the improvement of soil quality. These indicators can be used alone or in combinations. Even though the Society for Ecological Restoration International provided a primer containing nine attributes to use as standards for measuring ecological restoration, only three of these attributes could be easily applied due to their low costs and low time requirements. These three attributes include: diversity, vegetation structure, and ecological processes. This review article emphasizes that the criteria for the selection of the indicator species should be based upon: habitat types, abundance of species, ease of measuring, quantifying and interpreting the results, gradual enhancement with time and cost‐effectiveness, sensitivity, variability of response, size, residential status, and requirements of the area. Principal component analysis was applied to calculate the reclaimed mine soil quality index (RMSQI) and the forest soil quality index (FSQI) and the RMSQI value was compared with FSQI (optimum index value of reference ecosystem) to evaluate the restoration success. Available phosphorus, exchangeable magnesium, organic carbon, clay content, field moisture, available nitrogen, electrical conductivity, and pH are identified as the most influential parameters that regulate the health of reclaimed mine soil. Exchangeable calcium, magnesium, cation exchange capacity, sand, silt, clay content, field moisture, available phosphorus, and pH are the controlling properties for forest soil. The observed values of the above‐stated soil indicator properties were converted into a unitless score (0–1.00) and integrated into index calculations (RMSQI and FSQI). The contribution of each soil indicator properties on the calculated index was analyzed, which provides insight into the reason for the measured index. A higher RMSQI indicates better ecological restoration success. The calculated RMSQI was found to be 0.473 in the reclaimed dump, which is 6% lower than the reference ecosystem.     

Enterobacter sp.CV-v对孔雀石绿的脱色特性及机理研究

采用单因素实验研究了各种操作因素对菌株Enterobacter sp.CV-v降解孔雀石绿的影响.结果表明,在供试碳源中,葡萄糖对脱色的促进效果最为显著,而供试氮源中,酵母粉对脱色的促进效果最优;同时,供试金属离子中,锰离子对脱色的促进效果最优.在p H=3.0~10.0、温度20~50℃之间时,菌株CV-v对孔雀石绿的12 h脱色率在90%以上.此外,该菌株可在6 h内完全脱色浓度低于500 mg·L-1的孔雀石绿.动力学实验结果表明,该菌株对孔雀石绿脱色的动力学数据与一级动力学模型拟合度最好(R2=0.9755).酶分析实验结果表明,锰过氧化物酶和孔雀石绿还原酶可能与菌株CV-v降解孔雀石绿相关.此外,代谢产物分析实验结果表明,菌株CV-v降解孔雀石绿的主要产物为二甲氨基二苯甲酮和4-羟基-N,N-二甲基苯铵.